Governor’s inaction prompts board action

By Paul Young – City News Service

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors directed Riverside County’s lobbyists to advocate legislation mandating that the governor respond more quickly to requests for disaster relief funding, based on Gov. Jerry Brown’s months-long delay in answering a county application going back to mid-August.

In a 5-0 vote without comment, the board approved the Executive Office’s request to put the county’s state lobbyists to work seeking legislation that would require the governor to act within a 60-day window in approving or denying disaster relief funding for localities.

County Legislative Affairs Director Brian Nestande wrote in documents posted to the board’s policy agenda that Brown took nearly five months to unofficially respond to a county request for California Disaster Assistance Act funding for storm-related damage, and took six months to send the county an official denial statement.

“The amount of time that a response took to be received for emergency funds, or even the status of the application, can be seen as a failure within the bureaucratic system, which is meant to protect the people of the United States,” Nestande wrote.

According to a California Office of Emergency Services letter dated Feb. 11 and received by the county via email on Feb. 24, a “threat to lives or public safety … was not present,” and thus a proclamation by the governor declaring an emergency for the affected area was “deemed to be unwarranted for this incident.”

County officials said that after thunderstorm cells toppled power poles and damaged lines over a 14-square-mile area near Thermal last August, Chief Executive Officer Jay Orr signed and submitted an emergency proclamation to Cal OES, seeking CDAA money.

The board formally ratified the proclamation six days later, on Aug. 18. Nestande said infrastructure damage from the storm activity was initially estimated to be $13 million, but that figure ballooned to $18 million after the Imperial Irrigation District began making repairs, which were needed to restore power to more than 250 homes. Most of the damage was concentrated
along Avenue 66, between state Route 86 and Pierce Street.

According to Executive Office documents, “multiple calls” were made to the Office of Emergency Services between September and January to ascertain the status of the county’s proclamation and whether the governor intended to act on it.

On Jan. 12, the OES administrator for Southern California informed the county via telephone that Brown had denied recognition of a local state of emergency and any release of disaster relief funds, county officials said. The letter stating the governor’s position was emailed just under six weeks later, according to the Executive Office.

“In the case of a much more urgent matter, a response of this nature could put the lives of countless people at risk,” Nestande wrote. “Furthermore, response times of this nature make it especially difficult for affected communities, as they are thrown into a state of flux, not knowing
whether they will receive funding or not.”

OES Deputy Director Kelly Huston told City News Service that a gubernatorial proclamation “is not necessary to trigger, nor does it delay, statewide mutual aid and first responder resources. Riverside specifically requested CDAA funds that are used for reimbursement of only local government costs that are deemed eligible,” he said.